Yeast addition

Recommended Posts

Made three batches in my LBK s that had a best used by date one year expired not seeing that activation like usual in the fermentation stage. Thinking maybe yeast past expiration ? Four days in ok to add addition yeast or drain these puppies ?

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Search carefully for signs of fermentation. I have successfully used yeast that had been seriously abused by the previous owner. I'm talking about sitting in a hot attic for more than a couple years. I tried them just to see what the end result would be.

Look for sediment, a krausen ring at or just above the wort line. If you don't see either or aren't certain, and you still want to pitch more yeast, go for it.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

never dump wort just because you think it is broken or sick. even if it has an infection.. as long as it isnt ecoli you can probably still drink it. acetobacter you can turn into malt vinegar if you want. god.. ppl who toss beer have no business drinking or making it.

if it sat for 4 days in a sealed lbk... and it doesnt stink like poo.... and it isnt overgrown with weird gunk... but it has no krausen on top and no trub on bottom of lbk, buy fresh yeast and pitch it. if you pitch healthy yeast and nothing was growing in the wort, they will take off and there ya go.

expired, badly treated yeast means you have had cell die off. it doesnt necessarily mean all the cells are dead. what might have happened is that you had such small cell counts that the yeasts have been busy procreating / budding to raise their numbers for the last 4 days. if you pitch fresh yeast the dead yeast will serve as food. your final product might have some goofy ester development.. or maybe a little yeast funk.. but you might be surprised.

i have pitched 1 yr past expired yeast that went through 2 power outages lasting several days. when it came time to use them i coddled them. i rehydrated in water about body temp 90-98f. no more. (see pack for instructions if any). stirred... pitched. i added my trusty mix of super secret yeast nutrients and boom. within a day it was going nuts. yeast are very forgiving critters, and are really tough to kill completely. (short of boiling for 15 minutes)...